The Blessed Guest Detained

DELIVERED ON LORD'S-DAY MORNING, APRIL 23, 1882,

BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.

"Then they drew near unto the village where they were going, and He
made as though He would have gone further. But they constrained Him,
saying, Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is far
spent. And He went in to stay with them." Luke 24:28,29.

WHAT a blessed walk was that from Jerusalem to Emmaus! Were they not
highly favored men to have such a companion as the Lord Jesus, to hear
Him converse upon such a subject and to feel their hearts burning
within them with so Divine a flame? Brothers and Sisters, these are not
the only men who have walked with the Lord Jesus. I trust I look into
the eyes of full many who can say, "We, too, have communed with the Son
of the Highest. The eyes of our faith have seen Him and our ears have
heard His voice. We have known that Jesus, Himself, drew near, and we
have heard the Words of Holy Scripture as though they fell fresh from
His lips, and thus they have, by the power of the Holy Spirit, burned
in our hearts and made our hearts to burn like coals of juniper which
have a most vehement flame."

Thank God, our Divine Master is still the familiar Friend of His
disciples and our walk is with Him. In one sense, "He is not here, for
He is risen." But in another sense He is more peculiarly here because
He has risen and, whereas, un-risen He could only have been in one
place at a time, now that He is risen He is, by His Spirit, present
with thousands of His people at the same moment and He walks not only
from Jerusalem to Emmaus, but to many a village, through many a garden,
along many a street! Jesus delights to manifest Himself to His
people–He is not strange unto His own flesh. We are bound to bear
witness to the fact that He is not ashamed to call us Brothers and
Sisters and to be found walking with us.

Yes, even to those who are not His people, Jesus comes very near at
times. And though they know Him not, He walks at their side and this
not in silence, for He instructs them by His Word and makes their
hearts warm by His sacred influence. I pray that any remark, this
morning, which shall be made to Believers may also lay hold of those
attentive hearers to whom the kingdom has come very near, for some of
you have often been moved in this House of Prayer as you have heard
Jesus speak, and speak to you! And if you have not been able to call
Him, Friend, yet you have heartily wished you could do so. You have
been more than half inclined to cast in your lot with His disciples
because their Master has warmed your hearts, if He has not made them
burn–and if there has not been the glow of life, yet there have been
many flickering desires. I pray that Jesus may never leave you, but
that your intimacy with Him may be growing till at last you shall know
Him and He shall know you–and there shall be a union formed between
you which never shall be broken.

To return to that walk to Emmaus. How short it must have seemed! By far
too short for hearts so sad, who at every step found solace. I forget
how many miles it was, just now. It does not matter. I should think it
seemed as if it had scarcely begun when it ended–with such light feet
they tripped over that pathway that they thought Emmaus had been
attracted nearer to the city! It was so short because it was so sweet.
The conversation was such as good men prize more than dainties. The
intonations of that Voice must often have awakened memories within them
which half compelled them to recognize their Lord!

His sweet voice must have charmed them and the words He uttered, the
wondrous words of exposition and consolation, how much they enriched
them! Nor was that walk more sweet than solemn, for it is no mean thing
to walk with the risen Son of God! Kings might fling their crowns away
to enjoy five minutes of such honor–it was nothing less than sublime!
Those Brothers must have often, during the rest of their lives, looked
at each other and said, "We walked with Jesus!" I should think whenever
they met, their conversation would have in it fresh recollections of
that walk and each

one would say to his fellow, "Brother, I have just remembered a point
whereon the Lord spoke to us. Do you not recollect the significant hint
which He gave us as to the meaning of the Prophet?"

If you and I had ever actually walked with Jesus, I am half afraid we
might have grown proud of it. At any rate, if we were helped not to be
proud, yet it would always be a sublime memory. How sublime a thing to
have kept pace with Incarnate Deity and marched foot to foot with Him
who is God over all, blessed forever! No angel has ever walked with
Jesus–they cast their crowns before Him and fly upon His errands–but
He has not given unto angels the privilege of such familiar
conversation. How solemn to those who all unwittingly had enjoyed it! I
think when they knew Him, they must have been overwhelmed with the
thought that they had been so near!

And they must have feared, in the silence of their souls, that possibly
they had been rashly familiar. Surely they said, each one to Himself,
"Did we say anything improper? Was it this which made Him call us
fools? When we were expressing our doubts, did we not grieve Him? Alas,
that we should have so misbehaved ourselves!" They must have looked
back upon that high honor with great awe, even as Jacob did after he
had communed with God at Bethel and said, "Surely the Lord was in this
place and I knew it not. How dreadful is this place! This is none other
than the House of God, and the very gate of Heaven."

Brothers and Sisters, it is a great thing to come near to Christ! And
you who have not yet believed in Him, I should like you to feel in what
a solemn position you have sometimes been placed, when, "He has been
evidently set forth, crucified, among you!" And you have felt somewhat
of that Presence. Jesus does not draw near to a man for nothing. He has
an influence upon all whom He visits. Your sense of His Presence has
left upon you a deep responsibility, especially if you have remained
chill under the influence of His holy love and have refused to believe
in Him. Oh, that you would think of this! Before our Lord passes on and
leaves you to your own devices, I would have you know that the King of
Heaven has been very near to you! Oh that you would cry out to Him, nor
cease the cry till He comes and abides with you!

I. This must suffice for an introduction. Oh that the Spirit of God may
give the sermon! My subject runs thus– First, observe in the text,
COMPANIONS LIKELY TO PART. The walk had come to an end, for they had
reached Em-maus where they were going and now the Master made as though
He would have gone further. And so the holy talk was likely to end.
Jesus is going on and they may never see Him again. The choicest of all
conversations now draws to a close unless the Speaker can be induced to
stop with the two favored travelers. We are told that our Lord Jesus
would have gone further. He did not pretend that He would have gone,
but He was actually going. It is the way of Him not to stay anywhere
unless He is invited and pressed. I know not where He would have gone,
but with that glorified body of His, He was under no necessity of
finding shelter!

He could have gone further and lodged elsewhere, or He could have
suddenly returned to Jerusalem and in a moment have entered into the
Apostles' meeting room though the doors were shut. It would not have
been the first night that–

"Cold mountains and the midnight air Witnessed the fervor of His
prayer." Certainly He would have gone further. He says not where, but
He knew right well. Under the circumstances, He and His companions
seemed likely to part. Now, observe the reason of parting. They were
not about to separate because of any ill-will on the part of those who
had walked with Him. No anger had broken out–nothing that He had said
had awakened any animosity– very, very far from it! They felt an
intense reverence for the unknown Stranger and sincere gratitude to Him
for the charming words which He had addressed them. He was likely to
have gone further, but not because of any argument between them.

Nor would they have parted because of any weariness of Him on their
part. He had not talked away and tired them out so that they would be
glad to see the back of Him. The rest of the narrative shows that they
were in a very different condition of heart from that. If Jesus had
gone further, they would have lost His delightful society through
forgetfulness. Turning into his house–for I suppose one of them lived
there and there does not appear to have been anybody else in the
house–one of them spread the simple repast for his friend. And what if
in his care about the evening meal he had forgotten to invite the
wonderful Stranger? If Jesus had gone further, it would have been
entirely because they forgot to invite Him, or failed to urge Him to
stay! They could not have felt an utter indifference to Him, but they
might have forgotten to press their hospitality upon Him.

Many have short memories when hospitality is concerned. Sometimes we
have failed to invite a friend when he needed our kindness–and we have
felt sorry for it afterwards. They might have supposed that if He went
further, so important a Person was too great to tarry with them and,
perhaps, so wise a Person had an errand further on which required
immediate dispatch and, therefore, He could not remain with them. Thus
they might have let Him go. Had they lost Him it would have been simply
through forgetfulness and inadvertence. Brothers and Sisters, I hope
there are very few of us, who love the Lord, who are likely ever to
lose communion with Him through any weariness of Him, or distaste of
Him.

Oh no–the happiest moments we have ever had have been spent in Jesus'
company–and we are never so blessed as when He opens the Scriptures to
us and opens our hearts to receive them. But we are in danger lest in
the press of worldly cares; lest in our frequent conversations with our
fellow men; lest, even, in our attendances upon the domestic concerns
of our own little home, we may forget to invite Jesus to abide with us!
Communion with the Lord is more often broken by lack of thought than by
lack of heart, though, alas, when the lack of thought has let Him, "go
further," then it has cooled down into that rock of ice which we have
called a lack of heart. Therefore, Brothers and Sisters, let us charge
our hearts that we never forget to entertain the Savior.

Let this be our first thought–that we give Jesus a lodging in our
souls. Be this our morning prayer, "Abide with us." Be this our evening
petition, "Abide with us." Be this the prayer all day long, "Abide with
us." May we resolve that under no circumstances will we permit our
souls to be at rest unless we rest in Him, or to be happy except He
shall be our joy! You see, if the two disciples had lost our Lord's
company, it would have been simply through neglect. And if you and I
lose Him, it may be through a neglect which we think excusable because
we were so very busy and so intensely occupied. But this will not alter
the fact, nor bring back our Lord. Oh do not let us treat Him so badly!
Are there other objects beneath the sun or above the sun, on earth or
in Heaven, that are worthy to come between us and Christ for a single
moment? Will a wife treat her loving husband with coldness and then
excuse herself that she had other matters on her hands? It may be so,
but never, never let the Lord's redeemed treat their Redeemer as though
He might be left in any hole or corner till a more convenient time!

The point at which they were at all likely to part company with Christ
is worth noting, for it may give us timely warning. It was, first, a
point of change. They had been walking with Him and the journey was
over. They had been out of doors, but now they have come to their house
and are about to enter. Always there is a danger to us of missing
fellowship with Christ at points of change–and especially at seasons
of greatly altered circumstances. I do not wish, Brethren, that you and
I should be often transplanted–trees do not flourish well when this
happens to them. I knew a friend who appeared to be wedded to the
Gospel and was zealous in promoting it when he was persecuted very
severely by his father. His father died and he inherited the old man's
property–and from that hour he was not seen in his former place–nor
did he manifest any love to the Lord. This is sad.

I would hardly dare to pray for some men that they might have a change
from persecution to prosperity–plants that flourish amid ice and snow
are burned up when placed beneath a tropical sun. I have known those
who appeared to love their Master right heartily when they were poor!
They have become rich and now where is their ardor? I hope they have
not altogether cast off affection for the sacred name, but certainly
the people with whom they once associated know nothing of them, now,
and they are not engaged in those holy works in which they formerly
delighted. How dare I pray for the temporal prosperity of those who
would degenerate beneath its influence?

On the other hand, I have known many who once were in comfortable
circumstances and when prosperous they appeared to walk with God. As
far as we could judge, they were patterns of godliness. But they fell
upon hard times and they grew poorer and poorer till they tasted the
bitterness of need–and now they say they do not like to be seen by
those who knew them and, therefore, they stay away from the House of
God. They have lost the comforts of religion when they most need them!
They have lost worldly substance and, alas, lost fellowship with Christ
as well! This is equally sad, for whether Jesus leaves us at the golden
gate, or at the broken-down door of poverty, His departure is equally a
calamity! I am mentioning facts. I give no names, but I have seen these
things many times and, therefore, I have drawn this deduction, that at
points of change there is danger. I suppose there is upon the railway a
measure of peril at the switches where the train is turned upon another
line–and it is certainly so on the main line to Glory. At all times it
is well to watch, but especially when we are entering upon new duties,
new trials, new temptations. Lord, let not the novelty of our position
fascinate us even for a moment, but evermore You abide with us!

It was a point, too, where something had been accomplished. They had
finished their journey and reached their homes. Oh, we are such poor
things that we can hardly complete anything without being
self-satisfied. As little a thing as a finished walk will exalt little
minds. But if it is some greater work, the peril is increased. When
Christ said, "It is finished," He opened a river of comfort. But when
we exclaim, "I have finished it," we too often set our minds on fire
with pride! Certain men have undertaken a work for Jesus and they have
done it by the Holy Spirit's blessing–and now they feel so pleased
with themselves and so satisfied that they are likely to spoil all and
give their Lord occasion for grief! The lowly Jesus does not seek
self-exalting companions! I have known Him go many a mile to speak with
the contrite, and it is His delight to dwell with the
broken-hearted–but with those who have done something and, therefore,
feel that they do not further need His Presence, He soon parts company.
Nothing drives Christ and holy angels out of a room like the foul odor
of pride!

Then, dear Friends, they were now about to rest for a time. They had
reached home and they looked for repose after the excitements of the
week. They had been detained at Jerusalem by grand, yet terrible
events, and one of them was glad, that day, to lodge in his own house.
As for the other, he was glad to get out of the city and retire with
his friend, for a little till good news should come from the Apostles.
They both hoped for a little peace. Just then the Master made as though
He would have gone further–and when you and I are promising ourselves
repose, such as we have known little of upon earth–it is especially
well, at such times, to ask the Master to abide with us!

When we are in the battle we are sure to beg Him to abide with us
because He covers our head and we cannot live without Him. And when we
are proceeding in a weary walk we are likely to pray Him to remain with
us, for we are then leaning on our Beloved. But when we sit down upon
the seat of ease, sleep too often creeps over us. Having put off our
traveling sandals and stretched ourselves at ease–ah, then there is
the possibility, the sad possibility–of the Master's going further
while we take our rest. He is always going further and when we resolve
to go no further, but to consider ourselves to have attained, then our
Lord will soon be gone! We must not take the slogan of the famous
statesman who has been so often laughed at for his finality–we must
not say, "Rest and be thankful"–or we shall soon come to grief. If we
fall into that vein, it is well to remember that just at such a point
Jesus and the disciple are apt to break fellowship. I mention this that
we may be wise in the hour of trial.

Now, had they parted company, the act would have been most blameworthy
on their part. To have lost the society of such a Friend, how foolish!
Here was One who had instructed them with tenderness and skill–One who
spoke as never man spoke–would they let Him go? Here was One who
evidently could explain their mysterious sorrows and take the sting out
of their grief–would they let Him pass on? They had been fools,
indeed, if they had done so! It would have shown that they did not
appreciate His teaching, nor feel grateful for His opening to them the
Scriptures. It would have been gross folly!

And yet there is another thought. It was toward evening, and night was
lowering and, therefore, they said, "Abide with us, for it is toward
evening." It would have been very cruel to have allowed Him to journey
on in the dark and the dews. Would we thus treat any friend of ours?
Could we allow a beloved one to abide abroad all night? Was not that
His own argument in the Golden Canticle, when He knocked and said,
"Open to Me, My sister, My love, My dove, My unde-filed: for My head is
filled with dew, and My locks with the drops of the night"? It would
have been inhospitable on their part–inhuman for them to leave Him to
continue His journey in the darkness of the gathering night when they
had a home in which they could entertain Him!

And so I charge it upon my own soul to never let Jesus be left
unhoused; a Stranger who has not where to lay His head! All hearts are
cold in every place towards the Well-Beloved! It is a cold world for
Jesus, today, even as at the time of His life below. Then, "He came
unto His own and His own received Him not." Let not that be said over,
again, and said of us who are, in a more special sense, His own than
were His brothers and sisters according to the flesh. "Be you not
forgetful to entertain strangers" is a Gospel command–but be you
especially eager to entertain your Lord! Shall your Lord ever say to
any of you who are called Christians, "I was a stranger, and you took
Me not in"? Oh, no! Let us invite Him, beg Him, entreat Him, constrain
Him to abide with us for His own dear sake–and let us give Him, in our
warm hearts, the best entertainment that we can!

Surely we never received such a guest, before, and another such we
shall never see again! Men are willing to give up their estates and
houses for a time to entertain royalty–they reckon them to be
increased in value when once a monarch

has sojourned in them–and shall not we be more than willing to open
wide our hearts, minds and homes, that Jesus may enter and be
entertained by us as the King of kings? There is something, then, to be
learned from companions likely to part. May the Holy Spirit sweetly
teach us!

II. Now, I change the scene, and notice, next–THE GUEST NEEDING TO BE
PRESSED. The guest is Jesus and He is about to go further. And He will
go further unless they invite Him, yes, unless, according to the 29th
verse, they constrain Him. It is a very strong word that, "they
constrained Him." It is akin to the one which Jesus used when He said,
"The kingdom of Heaven suffers violence." They not only invited Him,
but they held Him, they grasped His hand, they tugged at His
clothes–they said He should not go. They would not have it–the cold
night should not accuse them of being churls. He should not go another
yard along that dangerous road–they must have Him for a guest–and
they would not take no for an answer!

Let us remember why this Guest needs constraining, and the first
thought is, He could not very well have tarried, otherwise. If I were a
stranger and walked along the road with two persons who did not know
me–if I were able to talk to them ever so instructively–I should not
think of intruding into their house when the conversation was over! You
never see anything in Jesus approaching roughness or want of
delicacy–He exhibits the manners of the noblest Man that ever lived!
He does not force His acquaintance upon any, but He goes where He is
constrained. Besides, what pleasure could it have been for Him or for
them for Him to have lodged in their house if He had not been wanted?
Without a welcome, few of us would care to accept a lodging. Jesus,
therefore, naturally, because the other thing was scarcely feasible,
waited till He was asked and even pressed. And had they not constrained
Him, He would have gone further.

Remark that this is a characteristic of the Son of God at all times. I
have not time, this morning, otherwise I could show you that all
through the Old Testament as well as the New, when the Lord reveals
Himself in any visible form, He has to be pressed before He will abide
with any. The Lord came to Abraham and Abraham said, "My Lord, if now I
have found favor in Your sight, pass not away, I pray You, from Your
servant: let a little water, I pray You, be fetched, and wash Your
feet, and rest Yourselves under the tree: and I will fetch a morsel of
bread, and comfort Your hearts; after that You shall pass on: for
therefore are You come to your servant" (Gen. 18:3-5). Abraham
constrains these wondrous guests, or otherwise they will pass on!

Look at chapter 19 and see what Lot did when two angels came to him.
Even supposing these were nothing more than angels, they show the
manners of the court of Heaven, so that it is an equally good
illustration for me. He said, "Behold now, my lords, turn in, I pray
you, into your servant's house, and tarry all night, and wash your
feet, and you shall rise up early, and go on your ways. And they said,
No; but we will abide in the street all night. And he pressed upon them
greatly; and they turned in unto him, and entered into his house" (vs.
2, 3). Joseph was, in this, a type of Jesus, for you know how slow he
seemed to reveal himself to his brothers, though all the while he was
full of love to them. To Moses the Lord said, "Let Me alone," and only
by mighty pleading could the man of God prevail!

When an angel came to Manoah and his wife, to tell them about Samson,
we find that He had to be detained, or else He would have departed
speedily. "And Manoah said unto the Angel of the Lord, I pray You, let
us detain You, until we shall have made ready a kid for You." (Judges
13:15, 16). You see, the heavenly messenger needed to be detained, or
He would have gone at once. And then comes in that instance of which
you have already thought, when the angel said to Jacob, "Let Me go, for
the day breaks. And he said, I will not let You go, except You bless
me." It is clear that the Lord will be entreated of by the house of
Israel to do good things for them. We shall have to cry–

"In vain You struggle to get free,

I never will unloose my hold!

Are You the Man that died for me?

The secret of Your love unfold:

Wrestling, I will not let You go,

Till I Your name, Your nature know.

I know You, Savior, who You are,

Jesus, the feeble sinner's Friend;

Nor will You with the night depart,

But stay and love me to the end;

Your mercies never shall remove

Your nature and Your name is Love." We know that our Lord had a shy
habit–He often withdrew Himself–and the multitude sought after Him.
He walked upon the sea and they in the vessel saw Him and He would have
gone by them, but they cried out to Him. The Syro-Phoenician woman, who
sought for the healing of her daughter, found Him, at first, very cold
to her, and only by the greatest faith did she win her desire! He
needed earnest pressure before He yielded to her request.

The blind men cried unto Him for sight, but He passed on till louder
and louder went up their piteous cries, and they held Him, for Jesus
stood still. The nobleman, when he came about his son, pleaded with
tears till he cried, "Lord, come down before my child dies." It has
been often so with our gracious Lord. He would not come until He saw
that the desire for Him was intense. He gives us two parables–one
tells us of the man in bed who must be awakened with many a knock and
many a call before he would rise to give bread to his friend who sought
it. The other parable is that of the unjust judge who must be wearied
by the woman's importunate entreaties before he will vindicate her
cause. From all this you see it is the Master's habit to hold back till
He is pressed and constrained.

If we must give a reason for this I would remind you of the jealousy of
His Character. He is jealous of our love! He says, "Give Me your
heart," and so He pauses a while that He may see that we love Him and
prize His benefits. Of old the Father said, "The Lord your God is a
jealous God," and Jesus, the Incarnation of the Divine Love, has told
us that, "love is strong as death; jealousy is cruel as the grave" and,
therefore, it is that He will not give His company to those who have no
heart for it. You shall not have His smiles if the smiles of the world
will do as well. If union with worldlings will please you as much as
union with Him, you shall have none of His company! It is only when you
languish for Him, sigh for Him and cry for Him that He will abide with
you!

He has another reason and that is, His anxiety to do us good! He wisely
wishes that we should value the mercy which He gives by being led to
consider what a case we should be in if He did not give it. He stirs up
our prayers and then answers them–and so we get a double blessing–the
prayers, themselves, being of much service to us, and then the answer
being all the more a blessing! It was good to these two disciples to be
allowed to be hospitable. It was good for them to rouse themselves to
entreat Him. They valued the company of Jesus all the more when they
had diligently persuaded Him to sit at their table and partake of their
simple meal.

Now, Beloved, let us look at Jesus in this light, and say within
ourselves, "I am fearful lest I should do anything to excite His
jealousy. And I am anxious to show my eager longing for His Presence
lest He should think me unkind. I would not make Him 'go further' and
leave me, but I would hold Him fast, constraining Him to abide with
me."

III. I have said that here was a Guest who needed pressing–there will
be no necessity to enlarge upon the remark that here was A GUEST WORTH
PRESSING. He was, indeed, worth pressing when we consider what He had
done for them. He had given them comfort and instruction and He was
worth detaining if only for that. Had they known Him they would have
felt still more that they could not let Him go. Would they not have
borne Him on their shoulders into the house and said, "Good Master, we
cannot think of letting You go, for You are He whom our souls love–our
Master and our Lord–over whom we have been mourning as one dead, and
lo, You are alive"? So much were they indebted to Him that they could
not fail to make Him their guest!

They must press Him again, for how comfortless the house would have
been without Him! I think I see those two disciples sitting down to
their meal, supposing the Master had gone on. Suddenly, one would have
remembered, and said, "My heart feels heavy, now that He is gone." And
the other would have said, "How came it that we let Him go? Why did we
not entreat Him to stay the night with us?" Their meal would have half
choked them! They would have gone to their beds and tossed about
throughout a sleepless night if they had failed in hospitality to Him.
This is what has happened to some of us when we have carelessly let our
Lord slip away–we have been like widows who have newly lost their
husbands–sore in heart and desolate.

"Should the children of the bridegroom fast?" Not while the bridegroom
is with them! But if he is taken from them, then shall they fast.
Better to have been outside in the open air, or to have gone further
with the unknown Traveler, than to have been comfortably housed and to
have treated Him ill. He was a Guest worth constraining to remain when
we think of the vacuum there would have been if He had gone further!
Besides, we know what they did not then know, that this unknown One
would make Himself known to them, as He has done to us. Knowing Him,
now, as they knew Him

afterwards in the breaking of the bread, we ought to feel, we must
feel, we do feel, that we cannot, will not let Him go, but will detain
Him, for He is Christ our Lord!

I spoke at the beginning to some here who have never known our Lord and
yet He has been very close to them frequently, in hearing sermons and
the like. Dear Friends, I earnestly beseech you to receive Christ as a
Stranger, and you shall soon know Him as a Friend! You only know of my
Lord, that He makes you have the heartburn every now and then. And when
we talk about Him, you go home very uncomfortable. How I wish that you
knew Him better! Oh, that you would entertain Him, for then you would
know His excellence! Bid Him come into your heart and He will be
infinitely more to you than He is now.

You have no idea what He is. He seems a well-spoken Friend, but He will
prove to be a Brother! He promises to instruct you, but He will love
you, enrich you, and glorify you. Oh dear child of God, not yet
well-instructed, your eyes are weak and you see not Jesus as you shall
see Him! Still, I pray you heartily entertain the Savior, even if your
eyes are blind. Take Him in and let Him lodge with you, and you will
know more and yet more of Him! You will know most of Him as you break
your bread to the hungry, and so break it to Him. You will know more as
you break the bread at the Communion Table and so commune with Him.
Only remember, He is a Guest worth pressing, and be sure you do your
best humbly, but earnestly, to detain Him!

IV. I close by telling you of AN ARGUMENT WITH WHICH TO HOLD HIM. Here
it is in the text. "They constrained Him, saying, Abide with us, for it
is toward evening, and the day is far spent." My first way of using
this text does not commend itself to my judgment, but yet it is
necessary. All the commentators and preachers I have ever met with
suppose that these disciples meant, by this argument, that it was
dreary for themselves to be alone and, therefore, for their own comfort
and protection, they begged the stranger to remain. I do not believe it
for a moment! Still, that would have been a good argument with the
tender-hearted Savior and if you and I cannot attain to anything else,
let us use that plea.

It is toward evening with many of you. You are in affliction and the
shadows thicken. Your light has departed and you are afraid. Sorrows
come on like the darkness of night. You know not what approaches–you
are heavy of heart. Ah, then that is a blessed prayer–

"Fast falls the eventide! The darkness thickens: Lord, abide with me."

You can bear any trouble with Christ. No adversities shall hurt you, no
afflictions shall grieve your spirit if He is with you. Pray,
therefore, this prayer, and no longer fear as you enter into the cloud.
Or it may be that some of you are falling into depression of spirit
through the loss of the Light of God's Countenance. You are not as
joyful a Christian as you used to be. The high felicities of your
spirit have burned down and all is dim. Now is the time to say, "Lord,
abide with me. If I have no joy, still let me have Yourself." It is a
blessed thing when a Believer does not set his affection so much upon
the joy of the Lord as upon the Lord of his joy–when he says not only,
"Lord, I will rejoice in You while You smile," but cries with Job,
"Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him." Better to have to do with
a killing God than to have God gone!

So, cry, "Lord, if I never get a smile from You; if I am never again
cheered and comforted by You; if I never sing a hymn of gladness, yet
still abide with me! Be near, even if I know it not." It was a
beautiful expression of David, who often asked the Lord to shine upon
him, when he said, "In the shadow of Your wings will I rejoice." As
much as to say–If I have no light from God's face, I will be glad to
be hidden beneath His wings. Abide with me, then, even if my reason
almost fails me, and my darkened soul dreads a yet more tremendous
night. Abide with me, O Lord, even should my sorrow seal my eyes in
death. "Abide with me" is a blessed prayer for those Believers who are
getting aged. With them it is toward evening and the day is far spent.
Now should they cry, "Abide with me." Then will you sweetly go to your
chamber and fall into your last, most blessed sleep, and obtain the
fulfillment of yours prayer that you may be forever with the Lord.

I have used the text in this way because everybody has used it so, but
I believe that these disciples meant it in quite another sense. They
used the argument to detain Christ because it was evening, for His
sake–because the night was coming on and they could not think of His
being out in it. They knew how heavy the Eastern dews are and so they
pressed

Him with this–"Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is
far spent." Let each one of us use that argument with our Lord even
now–Lord, the world has no entertainment for You! Unbelieving hearts
give You no shelter. The self-righteous repel You from their doors. The
worldly see no beauty in You; carnal hearts refuse You; every house is
locked against You! Therefore come in and abide with me. Here is
lodging for You! Come in, Blessed One, and stay with me. If You lack
shelter in king's palaces, abide with me! If there is no room for You
in the inn, yet come in here and find Yourself at home, for I shall
count myself greatly honored by receiving You. Therefore, dear Master,
abide with me.

How we ought to long to cheer the Blessed One with our love because He
is still so despised and rejected everywhere else. Everywhere else they
treat Him ill. O do not let Him be wounded in the house of His friends!
If He had 50 houses to go to, I might say, "Lord, they can give You
better entertainment than lies in my power." But when it is "toward
evening" and no other door is open, Lord come into my poor cottage! I
will set all that I have before You and be Your willing servant. That
is the plea!

Another form of the plea is this. The ages are growing old and dark.
What a plea that is for the Church to put up now, for the coming of her
Lord. "O Lord, it is toward evening, the world's sun is setting. It is
nearly 1,900 years since you ascended and still, the world lies in the
Wicked One! Lord, come to Your Church! Come and abide with her, for as
the world grows old, good Master, a chill night comes on and the love
of many waxes cold–and there are some that turn aside who once ran
well. Dire evils walk abroad in the dark and blasphemy and rebuke are
rife! Good Master, come unto Your Church and dwell in her, and find,
there, Your home!

"And the night of all nights is coming on, even the end of the world.
We know not when, but we know we are getting nearer to it every day.
Earth's day is far spent. Her day of mercy comes toward its eventide
and the night draws on, therefore, Master, come and abide with us, that
we may win the world for you. Come, come that we may convert the
heathen to Your Cross and that You may have them for Your inheritance.
It is with Your Church that You will do this! Come, then, and abide
with her ministers and her missionaries, and all her living membership,
that yet the prophecies may be accomplished and Your purpose may be
fulfilled! And Your reward may be the salvation of Your own."

Is not that a good missionary text, after all, a blessed prayer with
which to begin this missionary week–"Abide with us for it is toward
evening, and the day is far spent"? In the Romish church there is a
chant which they use from Easter to the day of Ascension, and though I
care nothing for liturgies or anything of the sort, yet it is certainly
a suggestive canticle. The first line of the chant is–

"Abide with us. Hallelujah."

And the next is–

"For it is toward evening, And the day is far spent. Hallelujah." With
that I close. May we use that argument well, until our Lord shall, in
very deed, abide with us!
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My Solace in My Affliction